Friday, February 26, 2010

I love doing wide angle lens portraiture. I like what the lens does to the surrounding lines. Architectural photogs would not agree with me but I like the convergence of the lines the lens causes. In today's image, I explored several different crops. The way the image is presented here was my first favorite and captured what I saw in the viewfinder and what I thought I wanted in my finished result. But then I started "playing" with it a bit. Hit the Read More..." link below for two more views of the same shot and Camera specs.

What do you think? I think I like how the subject is positioned to the right with all the lines on the left leading towards him and framing him too.

In this third image, I pushed him back to the left. I'm not sure if I like all the white to the right this time, but the more I look at the image, I really don’t care. The white space creates a nice visual balance. Is there any right answer? It depends on how the photographer wants to present his/her work and the impact of the image. Notice how the other two crops bring a different reaction to you as you view them. All in the fun of photography. Lighting for this shot is provided by the naturally occurring light in the scene. I turned the subject's face to the light until I had the loop lighting pattern on his face. Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 10-22mm wide angle lens at 12mm, F5.6 @ 1/30 second, ISO 200. Enjoy! -David

Eating while on the job, hired for an event, is always a sticking point for photogs covering a wedding. My next comments are sure to garner a comment or two.

Eating while working has NEVER been important to me. My assistants learn that early on and started packing energy bars – that they can quickly enjoy is certainly fine with me. If they offer me one too, I’m happy to oblige.

A few years ago, I was hired to photograph a wedding of a good friend. She insisted we sit down and have dinner. I begrudgingly obliged and we enjoyed, albeit a bit rushed. Here is the problem for me. As I SIT there eating dinner, the adrenaline starts to leave the system. My body (and mind) sort of settle into “rest mode.”

I don’t like the feeling – getting back into top gear means that I’ve lost the edge for a ever so short while – I don’t like that either. I know I’m making too big of a deal about this so I don’t want to belabor the point.

So what do I do to keep the energy lever high – sugar;~) My drink of choice – orange juice, coke, cranberry cocktail, anything that can provide a cheap sugar carbohydrate fix about six hours into the job. That keeps us going the rest of the evening. Hey, it’s worked for me all these years, I’m not changing now.

Oh, one more rule we follow when shooting a wedding – we NEVER SIT DOWN on the job. I want to always be vigilant to the action, emotions, excitement of the moment and ready to grab that shot immediately!

Hey, you want to be an Olympic shooter or a state fair runner up when it comes to your wedding photography?

Time to get on with today’s post with 8 more mistakes new photographers make when starting their business. Here we go.

Hit the “Read More…” link below for the next eight.

12 (14) Mistakes New Photographers Make When Starting Their Business – Part 2

Last week we covered the first reasons – let’s move on to six more this week – all of them important.

7. Not respecting the place of worship where the wedding is taking place.

Man, this one really gets me. You’ve got to know the rules and the protocol of the place of worship you are working in when shooting a wedding. If you don’t, and you over step the bounds, you give wedding photographers everywhere a bad name.

I am many times doing damage control because some “jerk” wedding photographer before me ticked off a priest, minister, or rabbi. I’ve heard too many horror stories about photographers’ behavior at weddings. The sad news – it’s getting worse!

How about the one where the photographer was “Rambo” like – low angle, on the floor- crawling up to the minister the bride and groom to get the shot during the service. What an embarrassment to OUR profession!

How about the photographer that broke all rules of protocol at a local synagogue roaming freely through the sanctuary to get his shot . He is a PRO working in Cincy right now but has been banned from this particular synagogue. That happened 24 years ago and the board members of the synagogue BANNED all photographers from taking ANY photographs while working in the temple again.

Thankfully, after a few very sincere meetings with that rabbi, we were allowed to start shooting in that synagogue again about a year later. They have since relaxed their very stringent rules – thankfully. Certainly know the consequences of your behavior.

DAZNOTE: Even though the rules have been relaxed, there has been an occasion or two where Rabbi at a “Reform” temple I work at has asked me to really curtail my ceremony coverage because a co-celebrating rabbi from a “Conservative” temple is also on the “bimah” – the elevated front part of the synagogue. The Jewish “Conservatives” have stricter rules to follow and we ALWAYS abide by the “house” rules.

8. Shooting a friend or family member’s wedding for free to get experience.

That’s a solid way to maintain that friendship or stay on the family Christmas list, isn’t it – NOT! There was a very scary forum comment over at the Strobist’s site a few days ago [link] – scary in terms of the fact that this happens way to often in this profession.

Here is how the discussion started:

“My brother's wedding is coming up in about a month, and he has requested that I take wedding pictures…” “…….I’m not sure what would be the best setting to shoot a wedding?”

And a few responses:

“I am sorry but I need to say that I would not recommend to you to shoot wedding when you don't know how to use your camera…”

“…If you have to ask questions, you are not ready to shoot a wedding…“

“Good luck dude!!”

But how do I get the experience” See # 9 below.

9. Now taking the steps necessary to achieve a level of expertise to do a good job for their prospective customers. See #8 above.

Over 9,900,000 DSLRs were sold in 2009!!! [link]. A lot of purchasers see the opportunity to make a little “beer money” on the side shooting weddings.

Can you imagine yourself jumping one of the Olympic ski jumps without a little practice? A ski jump is a BIG thing – you’ve really got to know what you’re doing to tackle this challenge.

Ask yourself the question, “Isn’t shooting a once in a lifetime event, for example a wedding, a lot like a “ski jump?” I mean, don’t you want to get it right the FIRST time? The consequences are pretty serious if you don’t. Consider this – if you blow it – the wedding photography that is, you too could be the wedding version of the ABC Sports “Agony of Defeat” [video link].

Learn how to do it right. A real wedding in NOT your “Training Camp” to learn wedding photography!

“Be careful about making a deal with a customer. It’s only the first deal you’ll be asked for. More deal making will follow down the road and before long you wonder why you booked the job.”

“If you are going to shoot for family – make it FREE. Sometimes they will be the most demanding. It’s part of your overall career cost overhead of doing business.”

11. Not knowing how to “bend over backward” for a client.

I never want to pick a fight with a client – NEVER! We have a rule around my studio, “Never get yourself in an adversarial situation with a client.” Mr. Gordon Selfridge got it right years ago, “The customer is ALWAYS right.” [link] – Even if it costs you a little profit to service that client. Please refer to #8 above.

12. Not ever following up with a satisfied client and asking for more business like family portrait sessions, baby sessions, etc.

Why is it businesses are always chasing new business instead of the servicing their client base they already have in their own back yard. Your current customers know you, love you, and would gladly come back and give you more business if you only asked.

DAZNOTE: Think about it:

Ask 10 brand new “cold called” potential customers to do business with you and what is the percentage that will?

Do you think that you could “up the odds” by asking 10 current/past customers the same question? What do you think the response would be this time around?

The answer is way too obvious. Don’t just focus on obtaining NEW customers 100% of the time. Spend a little time on “friends” of your business – your past customers.

13. Spends little or no time on self promotion.

This is another BIGGIE and sort of goes with #12. If you want to chase the new customer, then “hang out” with the people they are hanging out with. You’ve got to create “BUZZ” for your business if you want the clients to find you.

How do you get that to happen? It’s all spelled out in my first rule of business, “Get to know the people doing business with the people you want to do business with.” Yep, it’s that simple to get started.

14. Not knowing how to run the business part of their business. Some people think booking $50,000 worth of business is to put $50,000 in the bank – NOT!!! After business overhead; no matter how lean you run your business, taxes – local, state, and federal, it’s more realistically about 1/2 that number!

That’s a “shocker” isn’t it! But it’s true. Loving photography does not a good businessman make. You’ve also got to learn the business of business if you want to be more than a “soccer mom/dad” shooter.

Don’t get me wrong - “soccer moms and dads” are good people too, but in reality, they are really doing it for the fun of it. If you want to be able to make your house payment, your car payment, put shoes on your kids feet, then you better get serious about the business side of this profession.

You want a reality check – just look at the yearly “ CHURN” of photographers in this profession – it’s phenomenally high. The “beer money” shooters can’t make it, or don’t want to make it because it’s hard work to make a living at it.

In reality it’s easier than they think, if they would spend some time learning the business side of things, setting realistic goals for business growth, and working a “success plan” once you have one in place.

This exchange between Alice (of Alice In Wonderland fame) and the Cheshire Cat says it all:

As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice as she approached the fork in the road on the way to the tea party and asked, “Which way shall I go?'”

To which the Cheshire Cat answered, “Well, where are you heading?”

To which Alice replied,”I really don’t know.”

To which the Cheshire Cat replied, “How can I tell you which path to take if you don’t even know where you are going?

I heard these words from Charles Lewis over 25 years ago and it changed my business.

Next week I’ll begin a series of articles on protocols for shooting weddings in different places of worship for various faith communities. I think you will find it interesting. Be sure to check back.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today. Hope you enjoyed the read today. Please join into the conversation by adding your comments below.

Everybody have a great weekend wherever you are and I’ll plan to see you next week, same time, same station.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

I've been looking at this image for quite a while- in a much different version of course. I loved the color and lines of the image but just couldn't get the density right to suit me. When you check the camera specs, you'll see it was made in daylight. You know how it is, the image is looking good to you but still not quite "singing" to you. That's where this image has been for me for since I Captured it 3 months ago. I started to "play" with it in Lightroom this morning and tried some more variations on it. I was always wanting to "save" the shadows but then I decided to darken the entire image instead. I was getting closer to what I wanted. The image was trying to sing to me but not quite. I took the Lightroom Clarity slider all the way to the left and there it was - an almost ethereal image that was capturing exactly what I wanted the image to say. To me, the shot had always looked like a prisoner's view from his cell below. Stylizing the image with this dark, ghostly feeling completed the composition for me. Now it "sings" for me. Now there is a certain cathartic feel to the image. The deep contrasting cool and warm colors fading into dark shadows, the not so sharp wrought iron bars blocking the prisoner's escape to the moonlight above all combine for an image I enjoy very much. Sounds pretty heavy for a Thursday morning, but it wasn't meant to be. Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 80mm, F16 @ 1/1600 second, ISO 800.Enjoy! -David

What a day yesterday turned out to be. Here is the rundown on what's going on.

"Captured By The Light" Is Going To Be The Biggest Web-Cast Ever!

Wow! I couldn't believe it! The attendance for my FREE "Captured By The Light" web-cast [link] coming up less that a week away shot up by 20% yesterday - we now stand at well over 635 attendees! This is shaping up to be the largest web-cast I've been involved in - all pretty exciting.

My Ace #1 assistant, Nicholas, and I are going to be doing a run through this weekend to be sure all goes as planned. Nicholas will be on-line next week fielding your one-on-one questions on lighting and photography and also passing questions to me during the show. This has worked great in the past as just about every question gets answered while we are "live" on line.

Also, don't forget that we will be giving away 3 copies of my new book, "Captured By The Light" and 3 copies of my digital WakeUp Call 4 DVD set on the air. I’m looking forward to the web-cast - it almost like giving a program in person. The past webinars have been fun and informative and this newest presentation plans to be the same. You will love it. You can still register right here.

PayPal and Google Checkout Just Added To Our Digital Resource Center

Since we opened my Digital Resource Center [link] - including the best collection of value software and digital training tools available to photographers today - we have received numerous emails from our customers asking us to make available PayPal and Google Checkout.

Today we are officially announcing that the Digital Resource Center now takes both. This should be welcomed news to our international buyers. Now it makes it easy for you too to take advantage of the DRC great resources. Remember, whomever orders a copy of my new book from our Digital Resource Center, I promise to autograph each copy before we ship it to you.

Wait, there's more;~)

Jennifer has also been receiving calls and emails asking that we bundle additional combinations of materials. They did just that yesterday by adding The Ultimate Training Collection (clever name) to the Digital Resource Center. This new collection offers you the best price ever on my latest book, Tour DVD and training DVD's. You can check it out right here.

OK, gang, time to get on with today's Business Day Thursday. Here we go.

9 Ways To Find Out What Your Competition Is Up To?

So, do you know? Too many small business people walk through their world in a fog. Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to be nasty or mean with that remark. What I mean is that so many businesses are clueless as to what's going on with their competition.

We all want to do a good job for our clients. We all want to continue to learn to take better photographs. We all want to think we give our customers good value. But most of us has no idea what the competition is up to.

I get Jeff Gitomer's newsletter each week [link]. Jeff is one fired up guy when it comes to sales. He has his finger on the pulse of the new customer we are all dealing with - regardless of your profession. You can read all his newsletters here

It was the last line that got me thinking. Over the years in business, it was imperative for me to know what the competition was doing. What were their prices? What was their style? What special products did they offer their customers? I always tried my best to be in the "know."

Today that just might me a little harder to do. Why? Because there are 10-20 times more photographers claiming to be wedding photographers working in your community. So you ask, "How in the world am I ever going to be able to check them all out?"

Here are my 9 favorite ways to check out your competition.

Just hit the "Read More..." link below for the rest of the story.

1. Pull up Craig's List and search for photogs doing business in your community. This might just be an "eye opener" for you, especially when you see photogs listing prices from FREE to a few hundred dollars.

2. Check Yellowpages.com for your community. It will pop several photogs - it popped 95 for me here in Cincinnati, OH. Not all the listings have a web site listed, but many do and that's certainly a place to start to visit your local competition.

3. The Knot - you have to be a member to view their listings but it's another great place to check out the competition.

4. Just Google wedding photogs in you area - lots will pop. Time to check them out, too.

5. Join your local photographer's association if your city has an active organization. It's a good place to rub elbows with like minded photogs. Heck, you may even make a friend or two who may recommend you when they're busy. In my early days of business, I used to get a lot of business/referrals that way.

6. Send in your "secret shopper". OK, you might not like the idea but major companies from Best Buy to Circuit City, to Pier 1 Imports to Federated Department Stores etc. have been price shopping the competition for years. I've been shopped a zillion times over the years. It's not fowl play, it's fair play if you want to know where you stand in the grand scheme of things.

7. Do a quick search over at MeetUp.com [link] for wedding photographers. Depending on where you live, you may just find a group of like minded photogs who meet regularly discussing all things photography. Some of them may just be your competition.

8. Oh, this one is so basic. Hop in your car and drive around visiting other "main street" studios, although there are a less of them these days. Just drop in and say "HI". Hey, you might make a new friend or two along the way.

9. Visit your next bridal show as a guest and visit all the photographers displaying their work. Bridal shows are always fun to attend because they are the greatest single concentration of wedding photographers in one place at the same time;~) Just ask any photog that's ever participated in one.

OK, if you've taken at least some of the suggestions I've outlined above, you’ve got some idea of what your competition is up to. What are you going to do about it? Do you need to revamp your products or service in any way to better compete in your area?

What can you do to differentiate yourself from the competition now that you have a clearer picture of who the competition really is?

How does your style, pricing, packages compare?

These are the kinds of questions you need to be asking yourself if you want to survive in today's wedding photography marketplace. Standing still will only get you run over.

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Hey everybody, that's it for me today. Hey, don't forget to check back tomorrow for my second installment entitled, "12 Mistakes New Photographers Make When Starting Their Business."

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

This image was made at a local hotel, Marriott Riverside, a few years ago. The sad news is that recently remodeled the hotel and the stairway in now completely blocked by their new architectural features. This was always a great location to shoot whenever we had a wedding at the Marriott. Anyway, look how the wide angle lens together with my low vantage point accentuate the lines leading right to the bride. My Quantum Flash coming in from camera right shooting through a translucent umbrella supplied the directional illumination. The slower shutter speed picked up additional nuances of the surrounds. Camera specs: Canon 40 fitted with 10-22mm wide angle lens at 10mm, F5.6 @ 1/40 second, ISO 800.

Hey, a few quick notes before I get started today. Don't forget to sign up for the FREE Web-Cast entitled, "Captured By The Light" coming up next week. Here is the link right here one more time.

I'm introducing some of my favorite sections of my new book by the same name so it should be quite an informative seminar on lighting, composition, and flash usage. We have over 500 people signed up so far!!! Hope you can make it.

Wow! What an experience I had over at LensFlare35 yesterday during their "LIVE" web-cast on "HD DSLR’s, Fusion, Convergence, Video & Film making." I felt a little like a gold fish in the BIG blue sea. These guys, Zacuto’s Steve Weiss and Kevin Shahinian are at the top of their field when it comes to video. Be sure to check out their links names above - amazing videos!!!

Steve was talking about his upcoming DSLR shoot out to be announced around March 15, 2010. They were comparing the new HD DSLRs video capabilities to film - differences and similarities when it comes to shooting real movies.

In the conversation, it was also amazing for me to hear so many production companies that are using the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 7D for their cameras of choice in film-making productions. Want a quick example - how about Terminator Salvation - Yep, lots of this film-making was shot with the Canon 5D Mark II. Another story came up about a filmmaker using 15, count them 15, 5D Mark II's and 7D's to shoot a commercial for the Navy.

The list goes on and on - you've got to check out the conversation over at LensFlare35. The very candid, unedited version of our conversation can be found right here at BlogTalkRadio.com- utterly fascinating!!!

On that same note, but on a much smaller scale, let's get on with today's post.

Still To Video Mode Switching On Canon 7D

Anyone reading this blog knows I a big fan of the video capabilities of the new cameras on the market. When I got my hands on the Canon5D Mark II over a year ago, I couldn't wait to try the video.

As we all can see, it's been a game changer for professional photographers and film makers as evidenced by the conversations we had at LensFlare35 yesterday afternoon. Anyway, that said, most photogs are not at the level of a Vincent Laforet or Philip Bloom when it comes to video expertise.

DAZNOTE: Be sure to check out these guys blogs which are linked above. Each has an unbelievable amount of information posted.

Most of us like the built in video for its utter simplicity for adding a brand new flavor to wedding/portrait/senior coverages. So what's all this got to do with with PhotoFAV Wednesday? It all has to do with the video controls.

OK, this is where the "engineer" in me comes out. Check out the first part of the video below. In this 1:20 minute video I'm showing you the steps necessary to go from "still" to "video" mode. View, focus, pull camera from eye, hit live view button, the start video - WAY to slow and not fluid.

Now check out the second section - it shows me switching modes with the Canon 7D. View, focus, switch to video, start video, pull camera from your eye and follow the action - super fast and easy. That's why the "mode switching" feature (button layout) is one of my PhotoFAVS for this week.

Now I can be shooting the action, and then at a moment's notice, switch to video to get a quick 4-5 second video clip of the event, and then be back to "still shooting" in no time. The entire process is an entirely fluid, efficient motion.

I will admit, switching modes takes a little getting used too, but once you've got it mastered, your video possibilities really start to open up especially for the wedding shooter. That's why it's one of my PhotoFAVS for today.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. It's back to real work. How about I see everybody tomorrow for another episode of Business day Thursday.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

OK, everybody, this is a DPT first. Today I’m posting a series of images for the Image of the Day post. Why, because I just wanted it to be a little different today. Click on the image for a larger view. To many photographers are only looking for the action. Photography is more that just action shots – it’s action and reaction shots. When you capture both, you capture the “moment”. Action + Reaction = The Moment Capturing the “moment” should be our goal as wedding and event photographers. Here is the back-story on this sequence. The Bride’s dad had arranged to place a wedding greeting to his daughter and her groom on a billboard on the side of the expressway which we would all pass on the way from the bride’s home to the wedding. Besides Dad, I was the only one who knew where it was so I was in charge of leading the bridal caravan. As we approached the billboard, I pulled over to the side of the road and everyone fell in behind me. Dad pointed out the billboard to the bride and groom and we waited till their special greeting appeared. That’s when things started to happen. It was a great surprise to the couple – all I needed to do was capture all the actions and reactions of the moment. We weren’t involved in any accidents, didn’t get arrested, and got a great series of images which comprised a two page spread in their wedding album. Camera specs – general; Canon 20D fitted with 17-85mm IS lens (I used the full range), P-Program Mode for exposure, ISO 400. Enjoy! -David

It's computer maintenance time around here these last few days. I just picked up 8 Terabytes - yes, 8 Terabytes - of new drives yesterday. Now we can archive the years gone by and ramp up while increasing our hard drive space for this coming year.

This is a project I put off till I really need to do it. The last time was in 2007. It was easier back then when file sizes were smaller and I was shooting in JPG mode;~) Anyway, I’m such a geek freak when it comes to backing up data, I always go overboard on the process.

We keep two copies of the data on twin discs and one more copy of each year's data on two LARGE drives attached to the network for convenience - mostly my blogging convenience that is.

I could make this an entire Technique Tuesday, but let's hold off for another time since I've got a good post for you today.

But, before we get on with today's post, I’ve got to tell you about about a brand new blog coming online today. It's Speedlighting.com [link] - "The place to go to learn how to shoot with Speed-lites like a pro." It's the brainchild of fellow blogger, Syl Arena who also runs PyxSylated.com [link].

DAZNOTE: PyxSylated.com has a nice post about the new rumored video shooting Canon DSLR that will shoot video in RAW - WHAT??? I can see the 10 pound flash cards hanging off that new camera already.

Back to Speedlighting.com, blog content will be building over the upcoming weeks so if you want to get the most out of your speed lights, keep an eye on Speedlighting.com.

OK, time to get on with today's post, Ansel Adam's In A Box - Part 2. Here we go.

Ansel Adams In A Box - Part 2

Several months ago I did a video tutorial on how to use Lightroom and the color channel features of the program to get great black and white images. Lightroom offers a tremendous amount of power in fine tuning the underlying color tonal subtleties of the image to render it as a great black and white image. You can find that tutorial right here.

Last week, I fired up NIK's Silver Efex Pro - one of my favorite NIK products [link] - and thought I would give it a go with similar subject matter to my other Black and White tutorial mentioned above. I fired up Lightroom 2.6, pointed it to images from our Aspen trip last August, found a favorite image, and loaded it up in Silver Efex Pro.

That's when the fun began. The range of controls and tweaks you can "throw on an image" with Silver Efex Pro is amazing. In this tutorial, I'll run you through my favorite buttons, sliders, and tweaks to obtain a great black and white image. Hit the PLAY button below and enjoy the show.

You’ve just got to ask yourself the question, "If Ansel Adams was shooting digital, would he have used Lightroom?" I think the obvious answer is "YES". Why? Because Ansel was a "master manipulator" of film, exposure, processing, chemistry, burning, dodging, printing - all the tools of the analogue image. Had he been shooting digital, he too would have been "master manipulator" of all the digital tools as well.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got to head over to the makeup department before my guest appearance on LensFlare35 for this afternoon's interview. I want to look good for the cameras, you know ;~) Plan on stopping by - the show goes "LIVE" (audio only) at 2:00 p.m. EST. Tweet me a question or two.

I'll see everybody tomorrow with a brand new episode of 5 Photo Minutes discussing quick video shooting with the Canon 7D vs. the 5D Mk II.

Monday, February 22, 2010

I made this image a few years ago and it's still one of my favorites. I like it because of how quickly I was able to pull it off and still capture a great photograph. So many times photographers think it's always about the equipment. It's not, it's about the technique. This image looks like it was taken with studio strobes on location. The reality is this. I zoomed into the bride till I had the crop I wanted, turned my on-camera flash to a nearby pillar (like those you see in the background), and fired away. The light from the flash reflected off the pillar illuminating the bride with a beautiful, dimensional loop lighting pattern. I balanced the ambient light with the reflected flash for a stunning portrait of my bride made in only a matter of minutes with a minimum amount of lighting equipment. Camera specs; Canon 30D fitted with 17-85mm IS lens, at 45mm, F5.6 @ 1/25 second, ISO 800.Enjoy! -David

We shipped out over 550 copies of my new wedding book last week. We have about 30 more copies to ship today. So first of all, many of you have waited several months for the book release. I want to say THANKS for your patience as I didn’t expect the process to take so long. Secondly, I want to THANK so many of you who have taken the time to drop me an email or post on Facebook with your very kind remarks about my book. THANKS a bunch it’s all very exciting!!

It’s shaping up to be a busy week at the studio. I'm polishing up my FREE LIVE "Captured By The Light" Web-Cast for next Wednesday [link], looking forward to tomorrow's LIVE Web-Cast at LensFlare35 [link], and trying to get get our new Canon wide carriage image PROGRAF 8100 inkjet printer installed.

Anyway, let's get right to today's Quick Hit Monday

Catch Me On The Net

As I mentioned above, I'm doing a LIVE" web-cast at LensFlare35 on Tuesday. I'm honored to be one of three special guests. The topic: HD DSLR’s, Fusion, Convergence, Video & Filmmaking. We expect about 400 people to be signed on so I hope you can be there. Since it's "LIVE", you will be able to call in or Tweet you questions to the panel and we will get to as many as we can. It should be fun. To join in on the fun here is the link right here.

Later in the week I'm doing a podcast with Kerry Garrison at Camera Dojo [link]. If you haven't visited Camera Dojo, you must make the visit. Kerry has been adding great content over these last several months, Camera Dojo is fast becoming one of those sites you’ll want to visit often. I'll let you know when the interview goes live.

And lastly, Gavin Seim over at Pro Photography Show has just posted his latest podcast in which I was excited to be part of. You can get program and download info right here.

Go Get Educated – Great Seminars Coming Up

I have to say, there are some fantastic learning opportunities coming your way. Here are two of them I would highly recommend - why, because I've attended both in the past. Here is my quick list:

Marathon Marketing "Make Money Now" Workshops [link] are coming to a city near you - San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. LaDawn and I have attended Marathon's workshops and I left with pages of notes and notes and notes. The price is reasonable and worth every penny. One More Time - here is the link right here.

Bev and Tim Walden have been friends of ours for over 25 years. They are two of the nicest and most talented photographers shooting and teaching today. LaDawn and I had the opportunity to sit in on Walden U a few years ago, and it was one of the best learning experiences we had.

For Bev and Tim, it's more than just the photography, although still covered extensively in their class, it's a lot about building relationships with their clientele. I remember sitting in their class thinking, "These guys are some of the smartest marketers in the business." Please check them out right here.

Way Cool Photography & Way Cool Blogs

I love finding nuggets of gold in the blogsphere. That happened last week a few times. I received my regular LexJet InFocus eNewsletter [link]. Go sign up it you don't receive it, it's free and always filled with a surprise or two.

This time around they featured the wonderful work of my good friend Sam Grey [link] from Raleigh, North Carolina. Sam and I have known each over for many years and he has always been one of my favorite, most talented portrait photographers shooting these days. Sam's work is simply breathtaking. Visit his site right here - a visual feast . See if you don't agree with me. In today's age of "soccer mom and dads" photography, Sam's work is miles high over the competition.

Had some fun over at Sam's site, now let me point you too one of the most creatively designed wedding blog sites I ever seen. It's by Jasmine Starr, another very creative and talented photographers working today. The concept (the best I've seen), the layout, the imagery, everything about her site blew me away. What do you think? Here is the link.

I have mentioned that I was involved in a project looking for the best wedding photography on the web. Well, now I can come clean with the site I'm involved with. “We seek out photographers who are on the move. We offer the most forward thinking photographers a place to hang, network and be discovered by contemporary brides with an eye for art," says David Beckstead, BOWP Review Board Member.

The press release right here explains all the details of the site - pretty cool concept. Head over to the BOWP site right here and enjoy the "browse." Just hit the drop down menu, select a city, and enjoy the photography - pretty cool, and inspiring!

One of my favorite bookbinders/album companies over the last 15 years has been Zookbinders. They do the best job of assembling the most beautiful hand crafted leather albums anywhere and have always been my top choice for my clients.

So where am I going with this? Well, Zookbinder’s has a great blog for wedding photographers that is worth a look. Here is the link right here. Their content includes some great marketing and album design tips. Head on over and get caught up on some great articles.

Now for the DEAL. Zookbinders is 15 years old and wants to spread the word about their birthday celebration. Just follow them at twitter.com/zookbinders and retweet this message and you will save 30% on all Photobook Plus purchases through February 28, 2010!

Whew! What a post today - I hope my fingers last the week ;~) Anyway folks I'm out of here today. Since putting the "Tweet" button with the posts my thanks for all the re-tweets of the articles and helping spread the word about DigitalProTalk.

I'll see everyone back here bright and early for another exciting episode of Technique Tuesday.

Friday, February 19, 2010

This image was taken in one of the most beautiful and historic sanctuary's in Cincinnati, Ohio - Plum Street Temple. During a wedding or Bar Mitzvah service, I always like to let my eyes roam the architecture for interesting vantage points and angles for a shot. This time I decided just to look straight up. The soaring pipes of the organ leads ones eyes to the beautiful ceiling above. I placed the antique lighting fixture against the pipes to brake them up just a bit. The resulting image makes for an impressive view of the temple. Camera specs: Canon 40D fitted with Canon 10-22mm super wide angle lens, F3.5 @ 1/25 second (handheld), ISO 800. Enjoy! -David

Early last evening I had the pleasure of hanging out with 4 photographers, Barry Howe, Douglas Lee Coon, Dennis Zerwas, and Gavin on Gavin Seim's Pro Photography Show. Gavin does these podcasts on a weekly basis - I don't know where he finds the time - but, needless to say, it's always a good time and lively discussion.

His current post, 11 Killer Marketing Books & Resources For Photographers [link] is a great read. BTW, I don't just say that because he included DPT on his list. His list does include one of my favorite sales books - How to Sell Anything to Anybody. Like I said, you can give it a read right here - Enjoy.

Getting back to the podcast - we talked all things photography, new news items, new products, marketing ideas, and more. Gav tells me it may be up later today. Just hit the podcast link on the home page of his site. Anyway, lots of good stuff.

And speaking of podcasts, I'm doing a "LIVE" web-cast over at LensFlare35 [link] next Tuesday. Dave Warner puts these together and has been doing a great job with his new adventure. The topic: Fusion, Convergence, HD DSLR’s – the video capability in these new cameras. I'm honored to join Zacuto’s Steve Weiss and Kevin Shahinian.

Want info on the same subject, check out LensFlare35’s January 27, 2010 on a similar topic right here.

If you follow this blog on a regular basis, you guys and gals know how fired-up I am about the DSLR/Video possibilities so plan to stop by. Dave has really got the format of the show locked down with live tweeting, call in questions and more. Heck, it's just like we are in your living room. See ya' there.

OK, time to get on with today's post. I'm always keeping an eye on the Skribit widget in the right column of DPT. Once again, a question popped earlier this week which I thought needed some discussion, "Mistakes New Photographers Make When Starting Their Business." The more I thought about it, the more excited I became about how I wanted to answer the question. Today's post does just that so let's get right to it.

12 Mistakes New Photographers Make When Starting Their Business – Part 1

OK, here we go. My list is based on my own actual experiences and my experiences with photographers in the process of or having just started their businesses. It’s mostly a matter of naiveté – “green around the ears”, so to speak, about all things required for a success oriented business.

Hey, I’m not pointing any fingers – I was in the same boat when I started my business – “green as grass” I loved shooting and creating photographs, so why not start a photography business?

DAZNOTE: In my new book, “Captured By The Light” [link], I actually tell my story in the first few pages of the book. I hope you’ll give it a read. It was quite interesting to reminisce about those early years.

It get’s pretty scary when you’re getting calls from the revenue agents looking for back taxes.

Telling them you spent the money, has never cut it with those tax guys and gals. Then figuring out how you are going to come up with the money is not a pleasant situation.

If you are serious about your future in this profession, here are 12 mistakes – and this is not a complete list - new photographers make when starting their business.

Hit the “Read More…” link below for the rest of the story.

Here’s my list of 12 mistakes photographers make when starting their businesses.

1. Lack of knowledge about how their gear works.

People attend my workshops and in the early part of the week I ask the class to time–sync their cameras with mine. That way their overall shots sync-up with my class shots. It’s a great learning tool. I’m always surprised that about 1/3 of the class has no idea how to set the time on their cameras. As “screaming comic”, Sam Kinison would have said – READ THE MANUAL!!!

2. Lack of knowledge of what and how to shoot a wedding.

With all the free stuff on line – DigitalProTalk, Strobist, and nearly free information available at – Kelby Training, there simply is no reason why a new photographer should not be prepared to shoot a wedding. There are a gazillion wedding books on the market too that can point you in the right direction for doing a great job photographing the celebration. Heck, I’ve got 288 pages walking you through the entire process from start to finish.

3. Shooting with no “Back up” equipment.

This one floors me. “What camera should I buy to shoot a wedding if I only have enough money for one camera?” My advice; DON”T shoot a wedding till you have money for two cameras and two flashes. This isn’t a “do-over” event. You must be prepared.

4. Not dressing the part.

This is simply a real “pet peeve” of mine. It is the total lack of professionalism when some photographers present themselves at a FORMAL event – let me say it again, FORMAL event, for example a wedding! Black T-shirts, no tie, etc. My advice – get real, get professional – get REALLY PROFESSIONAL!!! Dress the way the guests dress. You certainly don’t want a tux for an small afternoon beach ceremony. But you also don’t want to show up in pants and tee shirt at an evening formal, sit down dinner event at the top country club in the area.

Here is a link to a post I did a while back entitled, “Dressing The Part At A Wedding” on the same subject right here.

5. Thinking they are one of the guests – eating, drinking, talking, more than necessary, and relaxing.

This goes under the same heading as the above point. It speaks to profession decorum and conduct at a wedding. We ARE NOT guests, per se. We are the “hired help”. Just hear me out. Whether you’re shooting a $1000 job or a $10,000 job, you are there FOR YOUR CLIENT FIRST!!! Keep your attention on the job at hand. Never waiver from your attention to detail and creativity when you are on the job. If you do not have the “eye of the tiger” when shooting your job, you do your client a disservice!

My team and I NEVER sit at a wedding – it is Verboten!! We take our first 60 second soft drink break usually about 6 hours into the job. Sounding too tough for you….look for another job.

6. Thinking it’s their gig and they will get the shot at any cost.

Another BIG “pet peeve” of mine. Too many photographers see themselves as the “premiere artieest” at the event and will get the shot at any cost, including disrespecting the house of worship and trespassing where the know they should not go. That’s one main reason so many priests, ministers , and rabbis are “fed up” with wedding photographers. Read my post, “Is Wedding Photography Dead” right here and you’ll get my drift on the subject.

Hey gang, get me up on my “soap box” and I get pretty fired up. I feel very strongly about all the points I made in today’s post and as a result, it getting quite long.

I’ll have the next six more MISTAKES for you next week and I’ll plan on wrapping the piece next Friday.

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On that note gang, I’m out of here. Everybody have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. And remember; in these cold, wintery days of the season, if you really want to “turn-on and warm-up” your digital pixels, shoot snow scenes;~)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Here is an image I made right after I got my brand new Canon 5D Mark II about a year and a half ago. I was stoked to give it a try. This image was made of this young lady right before all the guests made their entrance into the wonderful party setting. I always want to capture some photographs of the guest of honor in their themed room setting. These kinds of images make for some great opening shots for the party. With my new camera, I wanted to try the high ISO characteristics and wanted to see what my 12mm Sigma would look like on the full frame camera body. I love how the shot came out. Notice how the wide angle lens forces all the lines in the image to focus attention directly on the subject, assuming of course, that you position her that way in the composition. Lighting coming from camera right via my Z-Ray. (Thanks Death Bag Toter for the correction) All told, a very dramatic portrait. Camera specs; Canon 5D Mark II fitted with Sigma 12-24mm super wide angle lens, F6.3 @ 1/20 second (handheld), ISO 3200. Enjoy! -David

Until I saw the comments coming in from yesterday's post, I was feeling like I was the only one having the problem with Lightroom 3b’s super slow, non-intuitive import function. I’ve done a quick update to yesterday’s article right here to clarify why I think the import is really slow. Just scroll to the bottom of the post to read the update.

My “Captured By The Light” webinar [link] is less that 2 weeks away and we have 360 people signed up already! Remember, it’s free and we are giving away 3 autographed copies of my book and 3 copies of my “Digital WakeUp Call – A New Dawn” 4 DVD set. I’ve asked my Ace #1 assistant, Nicholas, to be standing by to answer “one on one” questions with the audience, too. Don’t miss it!

OK, time to get on with today’s post. I saw this idea in this week’s issue of my DWF newsletter. I think it’s about the best and most creative marketing idea I’ve seen in a while.

This idea, if done regularly, can only help to grow business buzz about your studio and help those sales grow. Want to see what I’m talking about – then hit the link below for the rest of the story.

Business Day Thursday: One Very Cool Self Promotion Idea

Man, am I fired up with today's post. What I'm going to share with you today is one of the best self promotion Ideas I have ever seen.

Here is the back story. I'm checking my email first thing yesterday morning and there sits an e-newsletter from Digital Wedding Forum - DWF [link]. Tim, the editor always comes up with some great content - 9 articles this time around - for the newsletter. If you are not a member, you've got to check DWF out.

I gave it a quick scan and my eye caught the article entitled, "Hot Jammin' Photo Edit". Here is the deal. Jeff Dietz [link], a really talented photographer from the Wilkes Barre and Scranton, PA area, has discovered a fantastic marketing tool. Be sure to check out his site too, BTW.

Once a week, he picks a "model of the week," and as he edits one of the images in Photoshop, he creates a time lapse movie of the editing process for a local magazine. Hey, not all of us are working with magazines in our area, but I think this is a "dynamite" idea that you could work into your web site or blog.

I think this could easily become an ideal "senior magnet" for photographers shooting seniors, and I don't mean old people. Image one of your clients being selected "Senior Model Of The Week" and being featured on your blog. I think that would create a lot of "buzz" for your studio.

I pulled Jeff's video off YouTube so you could see what I talking about.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not talking about embarrassing someone with some horrible "before" picture and turning it into a stunning "after" image. I'm suggesting starting with a nice "before" image and turning it into something great.

Man, you could take this whole concept to new sales heights. Let the "after" image also be featured in some of your hot new products - the possibilities are endless!

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I'll plan to see everybody tomorrow with another scintillating post ;~)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I captured this image of this young couple a few years ago at a class I was teaching. The goal of the shot was to capture them as relaxed and as romantic as possible. Yes, the were a "couple so it was easy to pull it off. I positioned them In a shady area of the lawn. The sun was illuminating the background which gave me a wonderful high key (light background) effect. Too many photogs, when photographing couples kissing, have them lip-locked" for the shot. The best way to photograph a couple kissing is to make the shot at that split second before their lips touch. That moment captures the emotion of the excited anticipation of the kiss, not just the "action" of the shot itself. "Anticipation" always trumps "Action" in a kissing photograph. Camera specs: Nikon D1x fitted with 80-200 non VR lens at 105mm, F 2.8 @ 1/1250 second, ISO 400.Enjoy! -David

We finally got dug out yesterday about 3:00 p.m. so things are pretty much back to normal here in the frigid Midwest.

Hey gang, I almost forgot to mention this but my Digital Master Class [link] coming up April 26-30, 2010 is almost full. We never really announced it but people just started signing up. When I last checked yesterday, I saw we only had about 3 spaces left -yikes! That's why I thought I should get the word out today. Give my studio manager, Jennifer, a call at 800.292.2994 right away if you want her to reserve a seat for you.

You will also want to check out the “Where’s David” link above for the latest greatest updates to my schedule. Lots of good stuff happening. I’m doing a podcast this Thursday and two next week. Hit the “Where’s David” link above for details.

For the last few days I've been trying to get the DPT posts to hit my Facebook page and Twitter but I'm not having the best of luck.

For Twitter, I'm using TwitterFeed.com. It worked the first time and now seems to be dead - nothing has posted since last Friday. The feeds all look OK so I'm stumped. Facebook is normally supposed to update in about three hours but took more that 24 hours for the last post to hit. Yesterday's post hasn't made it yet. Don't you love all this digital stuff ;~)

I'll save the "bug chase" for another day - on with today's post.

Updated: PhotoUNFAVS Day: Lightroom 3 Beta Import Functionality.

Please scroll to end of the article for my update.

OK, I'm writing today's post with fear and trepidation that the Photoshop police are going to be knocking on my door after I post this. But, here goes anyway.

A few months ago, I like so many others, downloaded the public Beta of Lightroom 3. Hey, I loved what I saw, but I kept stumbling over the new import function. Here is my fist blog post about it right here where I posted that it took me 10 minutes to import 150 images!

OK, granted it’s a Beta so I decided to hang in there. Besides, I loved so many of the new features, I wanted to stay on board. I continued to wrestle with the new import function. It continued to be a hair pulling frustrating experience. You can read my follow up post to the Lightroom 3 Beta import function right here - scroll down till you find it.

It's been 3 1/2 month's since I've re-visited the LR3 beta import issue. I was having a conversation with one of the internal LR3 beta testers and casually asked if Adobe had done anything to FIX the import issue. He reported, that to his best knowledge, the import feature would remain the same. I can't tell you who I was speaking with otherwise they would have to "kill" me - you know, NDA's and all ;~)

Anyway, all joking aside, I decided to give the issue a very close look yesterday and see if I could quantify the issue, that is actually put a stop watch on the import process - maybe I was missing something.

No, unfortunately, I was not missing anything. I wanted to import one image off a flash card - it was yesterday's "snow image". I popped the card into my card reader, opened up LR2.6 and had the image in Lightroom 2.6 in 15 seconds. I then fired up LR3b and started the stop watch. 7 minutes later I had the image imported into LR3b. The entire process took 2800% longer than with LR2.6!!! I tried it a second time. Since the thumbnails were already in place, it only took 3 1/2 minutes the second time around - still unusable and too long a time.

For my next test, I wanted to import a few images from a recent wedding. I pointed LR3b to a directory where several thousand images resided. In this particular file I shot about 4000 images covering the event. It took 10 minutes to populate the thumbnails this time - totally unacceptable in my workflow!!!

Check out the video below to see what I'm talking about - it's a short one but surely points to the MAJOR problem with LR3b's import functionality.

Why hasn't this been reported by anyone else? I'm in LR2 everyday importing the occasional image for a project, blog post, etc. LR2 works like a charm. So what's the problem? I believe the problem lies in the fact that I'm a professional photographer with several terabytes and over 1,000,000 images on my hard drives at any one time.

Lightroom 3b wants to look at every one of those files before it will let me get to the import process. I just want to quickly drill down to the few files I want to import and be done with it. LR2 does this perfectly and it really bothers me that this speedy import functionality is going away with the new version - or so it seems.

For me, that means that LR3 is not a working solution for me at this time if things - the import function - stays the way they have it programmed in the current beta. I certainly hope Adobe takes a hard look at this before releasing the final version and gives those of us (professional wedding photographers) with lots of data on our computers an option of returning to the legacy LR2.6 import procedure.

I know I'm fired up about this thing. I sure wish others would take a hard look at this issue and bring it closer to Adobe's attention. I'm a huge Adobe Lightroom fan and am not against "change" but this change is for the worst. Until the import speed returns, I'm sitting out this next upgrade.

UPDATE To Post: Hey everybody, thanks for all the comments. I’m glad I’m not the only one having the problems. You know, the original idea of this post was to raise awareness of the issue in hopes that adobe doesn’t “go to press” with the new import function “etched in stone.”

We can get all “gee whizzed” with all the great newest, latest greatest features of LR3b without even looking at how SOME of the changes can and will seriously affect our workflow. Hey, aren’t those the kind of things a public beta is supposed to uncover?

I love lots of features on the new version, especially the new noise reduction features. But do I love them enough to jeopardize costly increased production costs for my studio, maybe not.

The main problem lies in the fact that the more data (hard drives) you have hanging off your computer, the slower the import. Lightroom 3b wants to look at ALL that data before it lets you get to the import function.

If you import frequently into many catalogues, as I do, the new import function becomes a PAINFULLY time consuming process and simply no longer works for my workflow.

As far as timing my imports, I started the clock the moment I hit the import button and stopped the clock when all the images had populated in LR3b. The video shows this very clearly. If you want to do your own testing, drop your results into the comment section below – just be sure to “start the clock” as soon as you hit the “Import” button and list the amount of data on you local computer.

Sure, the argument can be made for newer, faster computers, etc. but hey, give me a break – LR2’s import is FAR superior to LR3b! I still stand behind the import speed of LR2. My question is, “Why neuter the speedy legacy process in a new version?”

I liked the very creative work around offered by Shambrick who suggested, “If you set up auto import, you can copy your single image to the specified watch folder then it should auto import quickly.” – Good idea.

Your thoughts??? -David

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. The air is brisk, the sun is trying to peak out from the clouds and it looks like a great day in the neighborhood. See ya' tomorrow for a very cool Business day Thursday. Adios, David

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I made this image about 10 years ago while on a trip to Ireland. One of our stops was to the beautiful little town of Kinsale, Ireland west of Cork. Cork, by the way, is the home to the famous Blarney Stone - not an easy stone to kiss, by the way. Kinsale is a wonderful little town of history and beauty. The town sits at the mouth of the River Bandon which offered lots of photographic possibilities for our trip. Its always the colors in Ireland that seem so much richer and vibrant. The colors of the buildings, the water, and all the surrounds radiate that richness on a beautiful day. This is a simple landscape photograph but I think it really captures the feeling the little town emanates - peacefulness, tranquility, gentleness, and color. A walk through Kinsale was truly an experience to see moments frozen in time. Although a simple landscape, I did tweak the colors in NIK's new Viveza 2 software via Lightroom. Camera specs; Fuji S1 Pro fitted with Tamron 24-135mm lens, F 7.7 @ 1/250 second, ISO 400. Enjoy! -David

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About

David Ziser, an internationally renowned portrait and wedding photographer, has shared his knowledge with ten’s-of-thousands of photographers, in 5 languages, and in 14 countries worldwide.
Studio Photograph magazine has extolled..."Award winning photographer, David Ziser, is showing the world how to take wedding pictures." His "Digital WakeUp Call tour was acclaimed as one of the "best ever" seminars on digital photography.